The public spaces on the roof of Pier 57 — Google’s new offices on Hudson River Park’s pier at the end of 15th Street — opened a year ago, and I have been sitting on it all this time. This is a great resource if you are looking to add something fun to a trek to the Chelsea Piers, Chelsea Market or Little Island. And if you love parks with views, you don’t need an add-on.

The former MaBSTOA — Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority — terminal was handed over to the Hudson River Park Trust when it was created, a relic but also an engineering marvel. Unlike most piers, it does not sit on piles but instead on giant concrete caissons, which were floated down the river when it was built in 1950ish. They sunk them in place, then pumped out the water. The thing is solid. (I’ll never forget walking up the massive concrete bus ramp to tour the site with my now-20-year-old in a baby bjorn — Google smartly kept the ramp as their main entrance and they are building an “inclinator” in Italy to make it even wackier.)

Google is the primary tenant of the pier, with City Winery and now Market 57 and the James Beard Foundation, along with some amazing indoor public spaces and classrooms. See more on that here.

The Rooftop Park is two acres and will eventually have some kind of F&B tenant; in the meantime the spaces are quirky and fun, with amazing river views. It’s open from 6a to 1a like Hudson River Park, but it takes some sleuthing to get to: make an immediate left at the southern corner of the pier, walk down the pier apron, jig and jag around City Winery to the doors on your right and follow the signs for rooftop park to the elevator or stairs. If it’s during market hours, you can also walk through the market to the elevators.